538 CONFERENCE OF DELEGATES. 
are an indication of the former condition of things. Botanists year by year have to 
record the changes in the flora owing to the improvements in drainage and the progress 
of the plough. 
Dr. VauGHAN CoRNISH. 
It has been thought desirable that a somewhat wider scope should be given to the 
discussion than that indicated in the programme, and my contribution will relate to 
the human factor. 
The aspect of urban expansion to which I wish in the first place to draw attention 
is the ubiquity given to the excursionist by the freedom of movement in which the 
motor differs from railways. 
The latter, focussing in every great town, have long since made the countryman 
familiar with the city, so that the yokel, unacquainted with town fashions, only remains 
as the comic countryman of the stage. 
But townsmen in the mass have not yet had time to make the corresponding 
adaptation of manners to environment, and the charabanc too often destroys the 
quiet of the country when it comes, and leaves behind a legacy of litter when it goes. 
Now if it be sad that the country should be spoilt in this way, is it not at least equally 
lamentable that the urban crowd should be so blind to the beauties of nature that 
they can derive no inspiration therefrom; for it is evident that when there is no 
reverence there is no understanding ? 
One half, perhaps the more important half, of our problem of preserving the charm 
of the countryside, relates to the education of the urban masses. We know that the 
broadcasting of appeals with reference to litter and the uprooting of flowers does 
something, but this isnot enough. Something could be done by a lesson and exhorta- 
tion in the elementary schools on the eve of the terminal holidays, but this is also 
not enough ; and most educational curricula are already so crowded that it is difficult 
to introduce new subjects without encouraging superficiality. 
I turn, therefore, with hope to some pregnant sentences in the report of the National 
Park Committee presented to Parliament last April (Cmd. Paper 3851). The Com- 
mittee say that— 
‘The growth of the open-air habit has been a notable feature of post-war life. 
Ramblers federations number more than 40,000 members, and recently a Youth 
Hostels Association has been formed to help all, but especially young people, to a 
greater knowledge, love and care of the countryside. ... We think that these tendencies 
should be encouraged.’ 
To this list I would like to add the School Journey Association. 
The Committee also say that ‘ the risk of abuse (of the amenities) will be lessened 
if visitors are encouraged to organise themselves in Societies,’ and, in reference 
particularly to the recreational use of national parks, refer to the great advantage 
which will result where ‘ the societies which make rambling a feature . . . assume a 
definite responsibility for the behaviour of their members.’ 
My own observation confirms the opinion of the National Park Committee upon 
these points, and I venture to suggest that Corresponding Societies will be well advised 
to take active measures for the organisation of urban touring in the manner indicated. 
There is one other point which I wish to make in conclusion. It relates to the 
tolerance by the uninitiated, even sometimes the preference for gaudy colour and 
restless pattern in bungalows and other buildings in the country. Here definite 
instruction by lectures to the members of rambling associations is desirable. Little 
is needed beyond insistence upon the cardinal principle that scenic beauty is primarily 
a matter of the relationship of the features of the landscape to the general background. 
Any building which takes its place quietly in the landscape will suffice ; any building 
which does not so conform is far more likely to be a blot upon the landscape than an 
adornment. 
Dr. G. CLrartipGe Druce, Mr. H. N. Dixon, Mrs. H. Forses JULIAN 
and Mr. H. Epcar Sanmon also spoke. 
arte 
